HPR All Things Considered Host Dave Lawrence welcomes you to the finale of our third annual New Year's Special of interview and performance highlights from the interviews of 2022. Of significance, it was the year we went from the "Off The Road" series (with us over two years thanks to the pandemic) to "Road Stories," bridging a strange time in the entertainment world, after a largely non-touring based series became one mixed with people both off and on the road. Prior to these three years, we never even did a best-of, end-of-year wrap-up of interviews, despite having done interviews here since 2010, but it seems a great way to remember and honor some of the generous guests who shared their lives with us.
The last three years of chats — and yesterday's start to the Year End Special, are online in the complete archive at hawaiipublicradio.org/roadstories.
We went over each guest segment and came up with some choice stories and performances!
Day one included stories by Joss Stone and Don McLean, as well as exclusive musical performances from Third World and Pete Sears.
Today, we kick it off with a Motown superstar, one of the most important songwriters and performers of that era, Smokey Robinson, a returning guest, who joined us in April 2022. We last spoke to Smokey Robinson back in the spring of 2012, so it was a huge thrill that he took time for us again! His story offers firsthand Motown music history and his own personal musical journey.
Here's a fun flashback photo of that 2012 interview:
Also on the show today is another of our returning guests we treasure — Bay Area horn monsters Tower of Power, who the late local concert promoter Tom Moffatt often called "Hawaiʻi's favorite band"! Sax player Emilio Castillo is among the very finest storytellers ever on the show, period, and over the years has offered some classic stories. He told us this story as Tower of Power returned to the state in May. This time around, Emilio ended up sharing an epic tale about The Rolling Stones and late great promoter Bill Graham. It is the single best story of the year, basically. Mahalo, Emilio.
Fun flashback! Emilio and Dave in 2018!
Getting to welcome back this next guest is a bit overwhelming. It was in July 2000 that Dave last spoke with entertainment pioneer and superstar Ozzy Osbourne, voice of the original Black Sabbath and a gigantic solo artist. In that time, a lot has happened! One of those things is Ozzy's Patient Number 9, his landmark, critically acclaimed new album that features the rhythm section of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, accompanied by some of music's most influential guitarists, including Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. We spoke to Ozzy just after his 74th birthday earlier this month, and will air this truly rare chat in just a few weeks, only days before the Grammy Awards, where Ozzy has a historic four nominations for Patient Number 9. He has three previous Grammys.
The timing is surreal, coming during a career renaissance, after Patient Number 9 topped the album charts upon it's release, Ozzy's first number one record, with the album delivering two back to back No. 1 rock radio hits (the title track with Jeff Beck and One of Those Days with Eric Clapton), a first in Ozzy's career.
Today we share a short preview of our over 30 minute interview, with Ozzy's thoughts on Christmas and partying, appropriately enough here in the week between Christmas and New Years. Listen for our radio feature in just a few weeks!
Fun times: Ozzy and Dave back in 2000!
Finally, we closed out the year with an artist we've been lucky to have as our guest many times over the last few years. Music superstar, sometime Hawaiʻi resident, always nice guy Herb Alpert, who returned in October to talk about his latest album, Sunny Side of the Street. As is often the case when the trumpet icon and record mogul is on, he brought along his trumpet, and we share his short take on If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof which he generously offered. We hope you enjoy it and the entire Year End Special! Have a safe, happy and healthy New Year.
How about one more fun photo flashback! Herb and Dave at his house in Hawaiʻi back in 2016:
